There will be a basin lighting of WaterFire on Friday, April 28th, 2017 sponsored by the Rotary Conference 2017. Please note that this is a basin lighting and not a full WaterFire lighting. The 32 braziers in the Waterplace Park Basin and in front of the Providence Place Mall will be burning brightly to honor the Rotary Conference 2017, LLC. The event will begin with a 16 torch procession. The Lighting Ceremony will commence at approximately 8:30 p.m. and will remain lit until 11:00 p.m.​Rotary International is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders and problem-solvers who come together to make positive, lasting change in communities at home and abroad. Rotary’s 35,000+ clubs worldwide initiate projects that address critical issues such as hunger, poverty, disease, and illiteracy.

Rotary Conference 2017, LLC is pleased to sponsor WaterFire on Friday, April 28, 2017, in conjunction with the Rotary Multi-District Conference 2017, being held at the Rhode Island Convention Center, April 28–30, 2017. This history-making Conference marks the first time four Rotary districts (7950 Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket; 7910 Central Massachusetts; 7890 Northern Connecticut/Western Massachusetts; and 7980 Fairfield, New Haven, Middlesex and New London Counties in Connecticut) have joined together for their annual spring gathering, and the first time a sitting Rotary International President has visited.

“The Rotary International motto is "Service Above Self". We the Rotarians representing four Rotary districts from Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut have come together in Providence to celebrate the accomplishments of our members and clubs in the 2016-2017 Rotary year. We are proud to partner with WaterFire Providence as we welcome Rotary International President John Germ and his wife Judy. Our goal by lighting these fires is to make the public aware of how Rotary changes and saves lives at home and around the world through our service projects and by promoting peace through understanding.” - Bill Vangel, General Chair, 2017 Multi District Conference.

Rotary International President John Germ also oversees Rotary’s top priority of eradicating polio, a crippling and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in Africa and Asia. Through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – a public-private partnership that includes Rotary, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) – the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.9 percent, from about 350,000 cases a year in 1988 to just 37 confirmed in 2016. Rotary, including matching funds from the Gates Foundation, has donated $1.6 billion to polio eradication. There will be an information table in the Waterplace Park Basin during the lighting where Rotary members will be happy to share more about what they do and how you can become involved.